Parramatta Literary Salon Abbas El-Zein in conversation with Yumna Kassab
Schedule
Wed May 27 2026 at 06:30 pm to 08:30 pm
UTC+10:00Location
Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) | Parramatta, NS
About this Event
Arts & Cultural Exchange presents Parramatta Literary Salon, a new literary event showcasing writers' body of work.
In May, we will feature acclaimed writer Abbas El-Zein in conversation with Yumna Kassab.
The in-depth conversation will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.
Annabella Luu and Antoinette Luu will perform some of their poetry work before the conversation.
About Abbas El-Zein
Abbas El-Zein has written fiction and non-fiction about war, identity and displacement. His work has appeared in the Guardian, the New York Times, Australian Book Review, the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, as well as literary magazines Heat, Meanjin, Sydney Review of Books and Overland. He has published novel, Tell the Running Water, set in civil-war Beirut, an award-winning memoir, Leave to Remain, as well as a collection of short stories, The Secret Maker of the World. His latest book – Bullet, Paper, Rock, A Memoir of Words and Wars – won the 2025 National Biography Award and the 2024 University of Queensland non-fiction book award and was shortlisted for the Douglas Stewart non-fiction category of the 2025 NSW literary awards.
About Yumna Kassab
Yumna Kassab is a writer from Western Sydney. She is the author of The House of Youssef, Australiana, The Lovers and Politica. Her latest book, The Theory of Everything, is available from Ultimo Press. Her books have been listed for a number of prizes including the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.
She is the inaugural Parramatta Laureate in Literature.
About Annabella Luu
Annabella Luu is a Vietnamese-Australian writer, slam poet, perennial student, and dog mum from south-west Sydney. For Annabella, poetry is a way to access the tenderness beneath our hardened selves. She is currently working to demystify her experiences as a second-generation daughter of refugees settling on Darug Land. She has published her poetry in various journals, including Voiceworks and DVAN’s Diacritics, and performed most recently at the State Library of NSW. She is also the editor-in-chief of the UNSWeetened Literary Journal at UNSW.
About Antoinette Luu
Antoinette Luu is a Vietnamese-Australian writer practising in south-west Sydney. Her poetry reconciles life in the diaspora, and how this life is at once burgeoning, threatened, loving, complicit and lived on unceded Darug land. Poetry is her praxis of empathy. Antoinette currently volunteers with the Bankstown Poetry Slam and was a four-time finalist at their National Youth Poetry Slam. She is part of the poetic quartet, After All, who won the 2025 Grand Slam, and worked as a senior editor for the UNSWeetened Literary Journal.
This event is curated by acclaimed writer Yumna Kassab in collaboration with Arts & Cultural Exchange.
Our local bookstore Dymocks Parramatta will have books for sale available on the night at Arts & Cultural Exchange.
Event Details
When: Wednesday 27th May 2026 | 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Where: Arts & Cultural Exchange, Parramatta
Tickets: $10.
Free for First Nations or people experiencing financial hardship. Please feel free to email: [email protected]
Lights refreshments will be provided.
This project has been supported through a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.
Where is it happening?
Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE), 8 Victoria Rd, Parramatta, AustraliaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
AUD 0.00 to AUD 11.90
